The Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt The Rough Riders By Theodore Roosevelt The Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt I RAISING THE REGIMENT During the year preceding the outbreak of the Spanish War I was Assistant Secretary of the Navy. While my party was in opposition, I had preached, with all the fervor and zeal I possessed, our duty to intervene in Cuba, and to take this opportunity of driving the Spaniard from the Western World. Now that my party had come to power, I felt it incumbent on me, by word and deed, to do all I could to secure the carrying out of the policy in which I so heartily believed; and from the beginning I had determined that, if a war came, somehow or other, I was going to the front. Meanwhile, there was any amount of work at hand in getting ready the navy, and to this I devoted myself. Naturally, when one is intensely interested in a certain cause, the tendency is to associate particularly with those who take the same view. A large number of my friends felt very differently from the way I felt, and looked upon the possibility of war with sincere horror. But I found plenty of sympathizers, especially in the navy, the army, and the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. Commodore Dewey, Captain Evans, Captain Brownson, Captain Davis—with these and the various other naval officers on duty at Washington I used to hold long consultations, during which we went over and over, not only every question of naval administration, but specifically everything necessary to do in order to put the navy in trim to strike quick and hard if, as we believed would be the case, we went to war with Spain. Sending an ample quantity of ammunition to the Asiatic squadron and providing it with coal; getting the battle-ships and the armored cruisers on the Atlantic into one squadron, both to train them in manoeuvring together, and to have them ready to sail against either the Cuban or the Spanish coasts; gathering the torpedo-boats into a flotilla for practice; securing ample target exercise, so conducted as to raise the standard of our marksmanship; gathering in the small ships from European and South American waters; settling on the number and kind of craft needed as auxiliary cruisers—every one of these points was threshed over in conversations with officers who were present in Washington, or in correspondence with officers who, like Captain Mahan, were absent. As for the Senators, of course Senator Lodge and I felt precisely alike; for to fight in such a cause and with such an enemy was merely to carry out the doctrines we had both of us preached for many years. Senator Davis, Senator Proctor, Senator Foraker, Senator Chandler, Senator Morgan, Senator Frye, and a number of others also took just the right ground; and I saw a great deal of them, as well as of many members of the House, particularly those from the West, where the feeling for war was strongest. Naval officers came and went, and Senators were only in the city while the Senate was in session; but there was one friend who was steadily in Washington. This was an army surgeon, Dr. Leonard Wood. I only met him after I entered the navy department, but we soon found that we had kindred tastes and kindred principles. He had served in General Miles's inconceivably harassing campaigns against the Apaches, where he had displayed such courage that he won that most coveted of distinctions—the Medal of Honor; such extraordinary physical strength and endurance that he grew to be recognized as one of the two or three white men who could stand fatigue and hardship as well as an Apache; and such judgment that toward the close of the campaigns he was given, though a surgeon, the actual command of more than one expedition against the bands of renegade Indians. Like so many of the gallant fighters with whom it was later my good fortune to serve, he combined, in a very high degree, the qualities of entire manliness with entire uprightness and cleanliness of character. It was a pleasure to deal with a man of high ideals, who scorned everything mean and base, and who also possessed those robust and hardy qualities of body and mind, for the lack of which no merely negative virtue can ever atone. He was by nature a soldier of the highest type, and, like most natural soldiers, he was, of course, born with a keen longing for adventure; and, though an excellent doctor, what he really desired was the chance to lead men in some kind of hazard. To every possibility of such adventure he paid quick attention. For instance, he had a great desire to get me to go with him on an expedition into the Klondike in mid-winter, at the time when it was thought that a relief party would have to be sent there to help the starving miners. In the summer he and I took long walks together through the beautiful broken country surrounding Washington. In winter we sometimes varied these walks by kicking a foot- ball in an empty lot, or, on the rare occasions when there was enough snow, by trying a couple of sets of skis or snow-skates, which had been sent me from Canada. But always on our way out to and back from these walks and sport, there was one topic to which, in our talking, we returned, and that was the possible war with Spain. We both felt very strongly that such a war would be as righteous as it would be advantageous to the honor and the interests of the nation; and after the blowing up of the Maine, we felt that it was inevitable. We then at once began to try to see that we had our share in it. The President and my own chief, Secretary Long, were very firm against my going, but they said that if I was bent upon going they would help me. Wood was the medical adviser of both the President and the Secretary of War, and could count upon their friendship. So we started with the odds in our favor. At first we had great difficulty in knowing exactly what to try for. We could go on the staff of any one of several Generals, but we much preferred to go in the line. Wood hoped he might get a commission in his native State of Massachusetts; but in Massachusetts, as in every other State, it proved there were ten men who wanted to go to the war for every chance to go. Then we thought we might get positions as field- officers under an old friend of mine, Colonel—now General —Francis V. Greene, of New York, the Colonel of the Seventy-first; but again there were no vacancies. Our doubts were resolved when Congress authorized the raising of three cavalry regiments from among the wild riders and riflemen of the Rockies and the Great Plains. During Wood's service in the Southwest he had commanded not only regulars and Indian scouts, but also white frontiersmen. In the Northwest I had spent much of my time, for many years, either on my ranch or in long hunting trips, and had lived and worked for months together with the cowboy and the mountain hunter, faring in every way precisely as they did. Secretary Alger offered me the command of one of these regiments. If I had taken it, being entirely inexperienced in military work, I should not have known how to get it equipped most rapidly, for I should have spent valuable weeks in learning its needs, with the result that I should have missed the Santiago campaign, and might not even have had the consolation prize of going to Porto Rico. Fortunately, I was wise enough to tell the Secretary that while I believed I could learn to command the regiment in a month, that it was just this very month which I could not afford to spare, and that therefore I would be quite content to go as Lieutenant-Colonel, if he would make Wood Colonel. This was entirely satisfactory to both the President and Secretary, and, accordingly, Wood and I were speedily commissioned as Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel of the First United States Volunteer Cavalry. This was the official title of the regiment, but for some reason or other the public promptly christened us the "Rough Riders." At first we fought against the use of the term, but to no purpose; and when finally the Generals of Division and Brigade began to write in formal communications about our regiment as the "Rough Riders," we adopted the term ourselves. The mustering-places for the regiment were appointed in New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Indian Territory. The difficulty in organizing was not in selecting, but in rejecting men. Within a day or two after it was announced that we were to raise the regiment, we were literally deluged with applications from every quarter of the Union. Without the slightest trouble, so far as men went, we could have raised a brigade or even a division. The difficulty lay in arming, equipping, mounting, and disciplining the men we selected. Hundreds of regiments were being called into existence by the National Government, and each regiment was sure to have innumerable wants to be satisfied. To a man who knew the ground as Wood did, and who was entirely aware of our national unpreparedness, it was evident that the ordnance and quartermaster's bureaus could not meet, for some time to come, one-tenth of the demands that would be made upon them; and it was all-important to get in first with our demands.
Recommended publications
  • COL. Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders & Camp Wikoff
    Transcript of Lecture Delivered by Jeff Heatley on Friday September 18, 1998 COL. Theodore Roosevelt, The Rough Riders & Camp Wikoff On August 7th, 1898, the transport Miami, with Gen. Joseph Wheeler, Col. Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders and members of the Third Cavalry on board, pulled away from the dock at Santiago, Cuba to begin its voyage north. Anxious that his men not miss the sights, Col. Roosevelt urged them to stay on deck. As the ship approached Morro Castle, the Third Cavalry band began to play John Howard Payne's "Home, Sweet Home". The American soldiers stationed at the castle cheered wildly as the homeward-bound troops passed by. The Gate City, the first transport to start north, had left Santiago two days earlier. Over the next five weeks, nearly forty ships would bring a total of 22,500 soldiers of Gen. Shafter's Fifth Army Corps from Santiago de Cuba to Montauk, where a 4,200-acre military encampment had been hastily prepared for their rest and recuperation. The 2,000-mile, eight-day journey would prove a further test for the heroes of the Spanish-American War. Many suffered the ill effects of tropical diseases like malaria, typhoid, dysentery and, in a few cases, yellow fever. The ships were over-crowded and lacked adequate supplies for healthy men, let alone fever-stricken ones. Both the Mobile and Allegheny transports were called "death ships" on arrival at Fort Pond Bay. Thirteen soldiers had died on board the Mobile and been buried at sea; fourteen on the Allegheny suffered the same fate.
    [Show full text]
  • THE ARIZONA ROUGH RIDERS by Harlan C. Herner a Thesis
    The Arizona rough riders Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Herner, Charles Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 04/10/2021 02:07:43 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/551769 THE ARIZONA ROUGH RIDERS b y Harlan C. Herner A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1965 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of require­ ments for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under the rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of this material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: MsA* J'73^, APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: G > Harwood P.
    [Show full text]
  • Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt</H1>
    Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt Produced by Dagny Wilson THE ROUGH RIDERS BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT 1899 ON BEHALF OF THE ROUGH RIDERS I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE FIVE REGULAR REGIMENTS WHICH TOGETHER WITH MINE MADE UP THE CAVALRY DIVISION AT SANTIAGO I page 1 / 223 RAISING THE REGIMENT During the year preceding the outbreak of the Spanish War I was Assistant Secretary of the Navy. While my party was in opposition, I had preached, with all the fervor and zeal I possessed, our duty to intervene in Cuba, and to take this opportunity of driving the Spaniard from the Western World. Now that my party had come to power, I felt it incumbent on me, by word and deed, to do all I could to secure the carrying out of the policy in which I so heartily believed; and from the beginning I had determined that, if a war came, somehow or other, I was going to the front. Meanwhile, there was any amount of work at hand in getting ready the navy, and to this I devoted myself. Naturally, when one is intensely interested in a certain cause, the tendency is to associate particularly with those who take the same view. A large number of my friends felt very differently from the way I felt, and looked upon the possibility of war with sincere horror. But I found plenty of sympathizers, especially in the navy, the army, and the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. Commodore Dewey, Captain Evans, Captain Brownson, Captain Davis--with these and the various other naval officers on duty at Washington I used to hold long consultations, during which we went over and over, not only every question of naval administration, but specifically everything necessary to do in order to put the navy in trim to strike quick and page 2 / 223 hard if, as we believed would be the case, we went to war with Spain.
    [Show full text]
  • From Scouts to Soldiers: the Evolution of Indian Roles in the U.S
    Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of Summer 2013 From Scouts to Soldiers: The Evolution of Indian Roles in the U.S. Military, 1860-1945 James C. Walker Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd Part of the Indigenous Studies Commons, and the Military History Commons Recommended Citation Walker, James C., "From Scouts to Soldiers: The Evolution of Indian Roles in the U.S. Military, 1860-1945" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 860. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/860 This thesis (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FROM SCOUTS TO SOLDIERS: THE EVOLUTION OF INDIAN ROLES IN THE U.S. MILITARY, 1860-1945 by JAMES C. WALKER ABSTRACT The eighty-six years from 1860-1945 was a momentous one in American Indian history. During this period, the United States fully settled the western portion of the continent. As time went on, the United States ceased its wars against Indian tribes and began to deal with them as potential parts of American society. Within the military, this can be seen in the gradual change in Indian roles from mostly ad hoc forces of scouts and home guards to regular soldiers whose recruitment was as much a part of the United States’ war plans as that of any other group.
    [Show full text]
  • Torrent Download the Roughriders Movie Ruff Ryders
    torrent download the roughriders movie Ruff Ryders. Founded by siblings Darrin “Dee” Dean, Joaquin “Waah” Dean and Chivon Dean, Ruff Ryders arose from the gritty streets of the South Bronx in the late 1998s, starting as an artist management firm, and went on to one of hip-hop’s most iconic dynasties. With the sound mostly backed by famed producer Swizz Beatz , who is also their nephew, the independent record label was an unstoppable force on the charts at the turn of the millennium. Featured artists included DMX and The Lox, revered lyricists in their own right, and Ruff Ryders official first lady, Eve. Aside from the solo releases from affiliated artists, Ruff Ryders released the popular Ryde or Die compilation series (three volumes from 1999 to 2005). Rebranding as Ruff Ryders Indy in 2010, the multi-million dollar empire has since evolved to encompass film, lifestyle, and philanthropy. BET presents “Ruff Ryders Chronicles” is a five part docu-series that aired in August 2020 and examines the hip-hop legacy of the music label’s rise to superstardom and features interviews from many of the artists on its roster. Ninden. 21 Day Fix® creator Autumn Calabrese takes her simple color-coded container system for measuring perfect portions and applies it to 101 of her favorite family recipes to give you Fixate, a delicious approach to healthy weight loss. So you're not just eating tasty, healthy foods-you're eating just the right amount. Any Beachbody program. Getting Started Meet Your Trainer Meal Prep & Containers Results The Workouts FAQ Community.
    [Show full text]
  • Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} the Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt Rough Riders
    Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt Rough Riders. The most famous of all the units fighting in Cuba, the "Rough Riders" was the name given to the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt resigned his position as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in May 1898 to join the volunteer cavalry. The original plan for this unit called for filling it with men from the Indian Territory, New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma. However, once Roosevelt joined the group, it quickly became the place for a mix of troops ranging from Ivy League athletes to glee-club singers to Texas Rangers and Indians. The graves of the Rough Riders Photographic History, p. 251. Download an uncompressed TIFF (.tif) version of this image. Roosevelt and the commander of the unit Colonel Leonard Wood trained and supplied the men so well at their camp in San Antonio, Texas, that the Rough Riders was allowed into the action, unlike many other volunteer companies. They went to Tampa at the end of May and sailed for Santiago de Cuba on June 13. There they joined the Fifth Corps, another highly trained, well supplied, and enthusiastic group consisting of excellent soldiers from the regular army and volunteers. The Rough Riders saw battle at Las Guásimas when General Samuel B. M. Young was ordered to attack at this village, three miles north of Siboney on the way to Santiago. Although it was not important to the outcome of the war, news of the action quickly made the papers.
    [Show full text]
  • Summer in the WEST
    SUMMER 2011 Summer in the WEST Display until September 15 www.paragonfoundation.org $5.95 US The Journal of the PARAGON Foundatiion,, Inc.. photo by Audrey Hall OUR MISSION The PARAGON Foundation provides for education, research and the exchange of ideas in an effort to promote and support Constitutional principles, individual freedoms, private property rights and the continuation of rural customs and culture – all with the intent of celebrating and continuing our Founding Fathers vision for America. The PARAGON Foundation, Inc. • To Educate and Empower We invite you to join us. www.paragonfoundation.org IN THIS ISSUE 10 62 100 Of Note On Your Horses’ Feet Bending Tradition Current Events and Culture By Pete Healey The Craft of Matt Humphreys From Out West By A.J. Mangum 64 36 The West of Audrey Hall 104 A New Book from GB Oliver A Photographer’s Portfolio Warner Western The Music of the West Evolves 38 72 By Darrell Arnold The Artists Ride The Lazy JS Ranch A Rendezvous of Western Artists By A.J. Mangum 110 Cowboy Cavalry 42 76 Roosevelt’s Rough Riders Your Rights Cowboy Artist By Dan Gagliasso Common Sense By Thomas Paine Jay Contway Part 2 By Mark Bedor 118 Range Writing 46 80 Cowboy Poetry from The Living Words of the A Few Words from Daniel All Over the West Constitution Martinez By Nicole Krebs 120 PARAGON Memorials 84 48 R-CALF USA Celebrating The West Special Section 122 in OK City Recommended Reading The Western Heritage Awards 87 Old and New Books Worthy of Your Nightstand WSRRA 52 Special Section Mackey Hedges, Buckaroo 124 Out There By Darrell Arnold 91 FFA Cover photo by William Reynolds 58 Special Section Ranch Living Life on the Ranch with Thea Marx 96 America: Where the Power Resides Part Three: The County Commissioner By Marilyn Fisher Best Overall photo by Audrey Hall Publication 2009 Old Cowdogs Classic Saddle Silver & Spanish Ornamentation in the traditions of the Pacific Slope.
    [Show full text]
  • The Haunting of Egmont Key: a Soldier's Story
    Sunland Tribune Volume 34 Article 7 2017 The Haunting of Egmont Key: A Soldier’s Story Carlo G. Spicola Jr. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/sunlandtribune Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Spicola, Carlo G. Jr. (2017) "The Haunting of Egmont Key: A Soldier’s Story," Sunland Tribune: Vol. 34 , Article 7. https://www.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5038/2575-2472.34.6 Available at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/sunlandtribune/vol34/iss1/7 This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sunland Tribune by an authorized editor of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Spicola: The Haunting of Egmont Key The Haunting of Egmont . Key: A Soldier’s Story Carlo G. Spicola Jr For Antoinette, my loving wife and best friend for over one half century. Thank you for always being there for me. I have been urged by family, friends and associates over the past half century to put my research of history, particularly local and military history, to print. Over thirty years ago while serving as a City of Tampa Councilman, I called for a thousand volunteers to form once again the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment ‘Rough Riders’ so as to celebrate ‘Roosevelt’s visit to Tampa in 1898. This was successful and the organization survives to this day involving itself in charitable, educational and historic preservations projects. This work is a result of some of that research. Published by Scholar Commons, 2017 42 Sunland Tribune, Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Rough Riders
    Rough Riders Theodore Roosevelt The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rough Riders, by Theodore Roosevelt This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Rough Riders Author: Theodore Roosevelt Release Date: July 23, 2004 [EBook #13000] Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROUGH RIDERS *** Produced by Dagny Wilson THE ROUGH RIDERS BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT 1899 ON BEHALF OF THE ROUGH RIDERS I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE FIVE REGULAR REGIMENTS WHICH TOGETHER WITH MINE MADE UP THE CAVALRY DIVISION AT SANTIAGO I RAISING THE REGIMENT During the year preceding the outbreak of the Spanish War I was Livros Grátis http://www.livrosgratis.com.br Milhares de livros grátis para download. Assistant Secretary of the Navy. While my party was in opposition, I had preached, with all the fervor and zeal I possessed, our duty to intervene in Cuba, and to take this opportunity of driving the Spaniard from the Western World. Now that my party had come to power, I felt it incumbent on me, by word and deed, to do all I could to secure the carrying out of the policy in which I so heartily believed; and from the beginning I had determined that, if a war came, somehow or other, I was going to the front. Meanwhile, there was any amount of work at hand in getting ready the navy, and to this I devoted myself.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of the Buffalo Soldiers During the Spanish-American War
    THE ROLE OF THE BUFFALO SOLDIERS DURING THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR A thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE REUBEN LEON WRIGHT, LCDR, USN B.S.,, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 1977 M.S., Pralrie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX, 1985 Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 1992 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Name of candidate: LCDR Reuben Leon Wright, USN Title of thesis: The Role of the Buffalo Soldiers during the Spanish-American War Approved by: : .? / .! .. /! '1.: ?, : --: ,-. ,, , . --, Thesis Committee Chairman CDR Carlton G. Ph'lpot,2 USN, B.S. Accepted this 5th day of June 1992 by: 4 , Director, Graduate Degree Philip J. Brookes, Ph.D. Programs The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student author and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to this study should include the foregoing statement.) ABSTRACT THE ROLE OF THE SUFFALO SOLDIERS DURING TXE SPANISH- AMERICAN WAR by LCDR Reuben L. Wright, USN, 119 pages. This study documents the history of the 9th and 10th Cavalry during the Spanish-American War. This study's focus is on employment and deployment of the 9th and 10th Cavalry during the Battles of Las Gasimas and San Juan Hill (Kettle Eill). The 9th and 10th Cavalry were vital units in the Spanish- American War.
    [Show full text]
  • (Future Father of Eleanor Roosevelt) View President Abraham Lincoln’S Funeral Procession from Their Grandfather’S Mansion Near Union Square
    Six-year-old Theodore and his younger brother Elliot (future father of Eleanor Roosevelt) view President Abraham Lincoln’s funeral procession from their grandfather’s mansion near Union Square. Martha Bulloch Theodore Roosevelt, “Mittie.” Roosevelt Jr., “Teedie,” about two years old. Theodore Roosevelt Sr., “Thee.” Theodore Roosevelt’s first Sophomore year at challenge in life was to make Harvard. his body strong. The elite men of the Harvard Porcellian Club, 1880. Theodore is sitting on the floor, second from the right. New York State assemblymen. Left to right, back row: William O’Neil and Theodore Roosevelt; front row: Isaac Hunt, George F. Spinney, and Walter Howe. After Thee died, Theodore charges into the Maine wilderness. Left to right: The diary entry on the day his mother William Sewall, Wilmot Dow and wife died. This dual tragedy (Sewall’s nephew), Theodore haunted him his entire life; a deep Roosevelt. melancholy settled into his being. The awkward cowboy, Theodore Roosevelt enters the western frontier. Theodore Roosevelt, a Western cowboy. A group of Badlands cowboys sitting in front of a home about the size of Theodore’s Maltese Cross ranch house. Photograph of three men and a wagon taken by Theodore Roosevelt. Two men breaking in a horse, an important rite of passage on the frontier. Roosevelt’s outfit for the roundup of 1885. All of the cowboys in the county would work together; regardless of which ranch they belonged to. The roundup was crude and violent—no poser could survive it. The foreman, known as “Boss,” was the leader. A gang of cattlemen.
    [Show full text]
  • The Archive of American Journalism Theodore Roosevelt Collection
    The Archive of American Journalism Theodore Roosevelt Collection Scribner’s January, 1899 The Rough Riders: Raising the Regiment DURING the year preceding the outbreak of the Spanish War I was Assistant Secretary of the Navy. While my party was in opposition, I had preached, with all the fervor and zeal I possessed, our duty to intervene in Cuba, and to take this opportunity of driving the Spaniard from the Western World. Now that my party had come to power, I felt it incumbent on me, by word and deed, to do all I could to secure the carrying out of the policy in which I so heartily believed; and from the beginning I had determined that, if a war came, somehow or other, I was going to the front. Meanwhile, there was any amount of work at hand in getting ready the navy, and to this I devoted myself. Naturally, when one is intensely interested in a certain cause, the tendency is to associate particularly with those who take the same view. A large number of my friends felt very differently from the way I felt, and looked upon the possibility of war with sincere horror. But I found plenty of sympathizers, especially in the navy, the army, and the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. Commodore Dewey, Captain Evans, Captain Brownson, Captain Davis—with these and the various other naval officers on duty at Washington I used to hold long consultations, during which we went over and over, not only every question of naval administration, but specifically everything necessary to do in order to put the navy in trim to strike quick and hard if, as we believed would be the case, we went to war with Spain.
    [Show full text]